Hamilton reveals key decision to be made over whether to take a new engine

Taking a grid penalty has been, and remains, on the minds of multiple drivers. Kimi Antonelli had to take a grid penalty during the Italian Grand Prix, which he went on to win, while George Russell has answered questions on several occasions about where he would take a grid penalty himself.

Hamilton himself does not expect to encounter this issue. He said ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix: "I currently don't foresee that I have to take a penalty given that, obviously, we didn't do the mileage on the last race (in Madrid). So I think we should be okay."

However, the seven-time world champion highlighted that having a fresher power unit can also be a significant advantage. Therefore, he will make a decision together with his team over the coming weeks.

The Ferrari driver added: "But, naturally, with engines that from new to when they've done several races, there is a difference in performance, and so we will take that decision later on in the year."

The Ferrari driver was not entirely convinced he could replicate Antonelli's Monza victory from the back of the grid should he need to take a grid penalty. "Well, Kimi went from last to first, so, I mean, I don’t know if that’s realistic for us if we will have to take the penalty."

Asked about his current situation and pool of engines, Leclerc added: "As of now, yes, I mean, it (the Monza engine) is in the pool of our engines that we can use. I won’t go too much into the detail on what’s the plan and what engine we will use or not, because that’s still something strategic for us and we don’t want to give that away. But it’s definitely back in the pool of engines that we can use, so that’s a good thing."